29 replies to this topic

[DansDans]

Breaking news all over the news and technology sites atm:

http://www.bluemount...th/2392292.aspx

I dont think anyone here will admit to it, so I will assume you'll post under the guise of "a friend of mine" but has anyone got this or know of anyone who had this installed and used it? What was it like? Has it disappeared now that the person who was distributing it been caught?

[pgdownload]

DansDans, on Dec 14 2011, 11:33 AM, said:

I dont think anyone here will admit to it, so I will assume you'll post under the guise of "a friend of mine" but has anyone got this or know of anyone who had this installed and used it? What was it like? Has it disappeared now that the person who was distributing it been caught?

Quote

A forensics report compiled by analyst Craig Wright allegedly found that the set-top box was a "standard embedded PC system" that used peer-to-peer video streaming service Vatata to grab content from a server in China

So not much more than uTube. Seems the only outcome so far from this Global Piracy Bust is one arrest (he's just a reseller). As the server is in China its presumably safe from Oz police. Considering clients are paying more than what Foxtel charges it would be likely a number of customers wouldn't realise its illegal.

Regards

Peter Gillespie

[Chopsus]

Curious that it was a Chinese organization that instigated the investigation - I was of the impression that the Chinese were culturally neutral about copyright protection.

[pgdownload]

Chopsus, on Dec 14 2011, 11:49 AM, said:

Curious that it was a Chinese organization that instigated the investigation - I was of the impression that the Chinese were culturally neutral about copyright protection.

If you're a Chinese "content provider" perhaps you might think differently? Pretty pejorative language in the article: "that hired a private investigator to dig up dirt" - couldn't they just said to investigate?

Regards

Peter Gillespie

[DansDans]

Chopsus, on Dec 14 2011, 11:49 AM, said:

Curious that it was a Chinese organization that instigated the investigation - I was of the impression that the Chinese were culturally neutral about copyright protection.

As Peter said, they are a company trying to sell their own legal pay-tv wares here in Australia (seen their 'stall' in Box Hill Central here in Melbourne) so it makes sense they would go after something like this

[bassett]

It's all smoke and  mirrors,,  The guy in Hurstville hasn't been charged with anything .  He's been released pending further inquiries.
And nothing been confiscated or removed for further inspection.  And they can't take anything without first  laying charges.

Don't confuse this case with the one in Western Australia a few years ago.  This doesn't involve  an Australia provider, or relate to a Card sharing operation.

I would assume that this  1000 channel service  [cough,cough ]   is accessed via a computer download, from an overseas source.
If that is the case then no crime has been committed, he's simply cashing in on whats probably a low budget or free download,  and there's
dozens of those out there if you take the time to look.  But  it goes without saying a fast internet connection will be needed.

[DansDans]

bassett, on Dec 14 2011, 02:08 PM, said:

It's all smoke and  mirrors,,  The guy in Hurstville hasn't been charged with anything .  He's been released pending further inquiries.
And nothing been confiscated or removed for further inspection.  And they can't take anything without first  laying charges.

Don't confuse this case with the one in Western Australia a few years ago.  This doesn't involve  an Australia provider, or relate to a Card sharing operation.

I would assume that this  1000 channel service  [cough,cough ]   is accessed via a computer download, from an overseas source.
If that is the case then no crime has been committed, he's simply cashing in on whats probably a low budget or free download,  and there's
dozens of those out there if you take the time to look.  But  it goes without saying a fast internet connection will be needed.

You would have to think that considering he was asking for an ongoing fee per month for the service, and you'd assume some of his clients would be computer illiterate, then he would be offering more than just a simple service - perhaps some kind of buffering service (servers and mutliple network connections probably) to handle the load

[pgdownload]

DansDans, on Dec 14 2011, 02:43 PM, said:

You would have to think that considering he was asking for an ongoing fee per month for the service, and you'd assume some of his clients would be computer illiterate, then he would be offering more than just a simple service - perhaps some kind of buffering service (servers and mutliple network connections probably) to handle the load

From what I can see, its basically a glorified uTube streaming service. Programs are all copied and then stored on Chinese servers. He's basically made a cheap HTPC that runs software connecting it to the Chinese servers. Yes a decent download speed and allowance would be needed but otherwise it would look like any other STB etc.

On the raid itself, it all seems pretty dodgy. I get the impression some cop has called in a favour with some police writers to big note nothing much (sounds good to use words like raid, international, 150 million, etc.). Perhaps the investigator called in a favour? As the article says, the warrant appears to have been executed on selling Foxtel access cards (which sounds like a sideline this business might be in).

Regards

Peter Gillespie

[DansDans]

pgdownload, on Dec 14 2011, 02:53 PM, said:

From what I can see, its basically a glorified uTube streaming service. Programs are all copied and then stored on Chinese servers. He's basically made a cheap HTPC that runs software connecting it to the Chinese servers. Yes a decent download speed and allowance would be needed but otherwise it would look like any other STB etc.

On the raid itself, it all seems pretty dodgy. I get the impression some cop has called in a favour with some police writers to big note nothing much (sounds good to use words like raid, international, 150 million, etc.). Perhaps the investigator called in a favour? As the article says, the warrant appears to have been executed on selling Foxtel access cards (which sounds like a sideline this business might be in).

Regards

Peter Gillespie

Didnt realise you could still sell Foxtel access cards... would these be for Dreamboxes?

[pgdownload]

DansDans, on Dec 15 2011, 08:52 AM, said:

Didnt realise you could still sell Foxtel access cards... would these be for Dreamboxes?

No idea. The article just said the warrant related to "allegedly selling cable television decoders". Its possible the definition of "decoder" was stretched to mean "device that can download a video saved on the internet that was recorded from a legitimate cable TV box".

Regards

Peter Gillespie

[BamBBBam]

DansDans, on Dec 15 2011, 05:52 AM, said:

Didnt realise you could still sell Foxtel access cards... would these be for Dreamboxes?

Both blue and Orange foxtel cards are no longer working in third-party boxes, so moot point.

The current deal is with non-Mystar Austar cards, which can be used in dreamboxes etc.

[DansDans]

BamBBBam, on Dec 15 2011, 03:58 PM, said:

Both blue and Orange foxtel cards are no longer working in third-party boxes, so moot point.

The current deal is with non-Mystar Austar cards, which can be used in dreamboxes etc.

technically wouldnt be "cable" boxes, would they?

Unfortunately cable is consider venacular for "pay-tv" in Australia, so I think thats where the confused arises in this article

[DrP]

DansDans, on Dec 15 2011, 03:28 PM, said:

technically wouldnt be "cable" boxes, would they?

Although its been a seriously like time since I looked, it wouldn't at all surprise me to see irdeto (ie Austar) ECMs et al still appearing on Foxtel's cable service.

[DansDans]

DrP, on Dec 15 2011, 05:00 PM, said:

Although its been a seriously like time since I looked, it wouldn't at all surprise me to see irdeto (ie Austar) ECMs et al still appearing on Foxtel's cable service.

Austar still run their cable service in Darwin, right? However, doesnt help Sydney people.

Didnt irdeto "die" with analogue? Fox have always been NDS on digital AFAIK, so wouldnt it seem odd to run both??

However, I know you can pick up the Foxtel service (not talking about the channels, but the actual service) on Optus cable if you connect a Foxtel IQ and smartcard into an Optus connection... although I dont know what difference that makes (if any)

[DrP]

Foxtel using irdeto did effectively stop when the digital campaign started but Austar is still very much an irdeto outfit.  Apart from a few cable specific bits of SI etc its the same service on sat and cable.  Foxtel used to simply not bother going the extra yard to remove Austar related irdeto info from the cable transport streams and it wouldn't surprise me if its still there.  davmel will probably pop up in the near future and comment since he tends to keep an eye on this stuff.

Edited by DrP, 15 December 2011 - 04:25 PM.

[bassett]

This Hurstville case has nothing to do with any Australian  pay TV providers.  It's simply an internet generated  service, with an add on server  receiver
connected to your internet router.  This is possibly where the  $90.00 fee comes in.  And also what the local Plod are refering to, when they talk about STB's
The internet connection would be the same as you would add a PS3, to your network.  As for the 1000 [supposed] channels offered. I would think very
few  are English language.  They would be mostly be Chinese and  Indian.

In the eastern states you would be flat out accessing 1000 channels on the C-band network, be they encrypted or FTA. Regardless of your satellite dish array.

The chances are the guy was dobbed in by an irate customer who didn't have the download speeds required to access the  system. But given all the
Hoop-La,  it all makes a good story,  I think you will find the guy  will not be charged with anything, as he's accessed an overseas server, and it has nothing
to do with any Australian system.  The simply facts are  the laws simply haven't caught up with  today's technology.  And it will all simply go away and die,
without a whisper from the  media.

There is no differences between this and  anyone downloading a movie or  a Playstation game  from Pirate bay  [based in Romania] or Kickar*e Torrent,
except this is on a slightly bigger scale. And someones trying to extract a quid, from Jo Public.

[bassett]

DrP, on Dec 15 2011, 05:25 PM, said:

Foxtel using irdeto did effectively stop when the digital campaign started

Foxy are still using a paralleled  NDS Irdeto 2  service.  The digital campaign ploy was only an attempt at
highlighting there service and increasing the fees.  The pay satellite service have always been digital since day one.

[DansDans]

bassett, on Dec 16 2011, 12:24 PM, said:

Foxy are still using a paralleled  NDS Irdeto 2  service.  The digital campaign ploy was only an attempt at
highlighting there service and increasing the fees.  The pay satellite service have always been digital since day one.

Satellite yes, but cable no - only digital since 04. And the article mentions "cable" boxes which we think is just a passing reference to pay-tv and nothing else

[DrP]

bassett, on Dec 16 2011, 11:24 AM, said:

Foxy are still using a paralleled  NDS Irdeto 2  service.  The digital campaign ploy was only an attempt at
highlighting there service and increasing the fees.  The pay satellite service have always been digital since day one.

I'd be surprised if Foxtel still has irdeto ECMs etc floating around of its own generation.  Its been some time since I've paid any attention but I can't see any reason why Foxtel would keep simulcrypting with irdeto (ie, paying for it) given how long its been since Foxtel took up with NDS.  Of course, irdeto is still there, for Austar.  If davmel ever makes an appearance I'm sure things will be clarified.  That or I'll dig out ye-olde style DVB-s card and have a look.  

[bassett]

DrP, on Dec 16 2011, 03:43 PM, said:

I'd be surprised if Foxtel still has irdeto ECMs etc floating around of its own generation.  Its been some time since I've paid any attention but I can't see any reason why Foxtel would keep simulcrypting with irdeto (ie, paying for it) given how long its been since Foxtel took up with NDS.  Of course, irdeto is still there, for Austar.  If davmel ever makes an appearance I'm sure things will be clarified.  That or I'll dig out ye-olde style DVB-s card and have a look.  

Foxy still have provider receivers out there with Irdeto capability,  Strangely enough not everyone's  satellite receiver has been  changed over to NDS
There simply waiting for the old receivers to ether fall over, or changed when people request  a new one.

It costs them no more to run a parallele system , they simply double up on the satellite transponders.  They don't need to rent separate transponders.

[DrP]

Of course they don't rent more space anyone with half a clue knows that, but there's money involved of that there can be no doubt.  Foxtel doesn't get access to Irdeto crypto systems for free.  How much?  No idea, but $100,000 buys quite a few receivers...

[jsmith]

... and another today... see here. Love how they were using the "Apple 6 TV" logo on their USB's and screen shots.

JSmith

[bassett]

DrP, on 17 December 2011 - 02:35 PM, said:

How much?  No idea, but $100,000 buys quite a few receivers...

That would be quite correct if they owned the receivers,   they don't  there leased from the manufacturer.

But as you said  ''everyone know's that"

There are quite a few Internet provider systems available, which are legal, offering quite a lot of English content,
providing you have a fast  enough system and enough download

Edited by bassett, 02 February 2012 - 03:12 PM.

[jsmith]

jsmith, on 02 February 2012 - 12:39 PM, said:

... and another today... see here. Love how they were using the "Apple 6 TV" logo on their USB's and screen shots.

JSmith

No comments?

Quote from posted article,

"Police have raided the Sydney arm of an alleged global piracy outfit which they say was selling unlicensed pay TV subscription packages offering more than 1000 channels for $50 a month.

Police allege an Ashfield shop, trading as QMC Mart, is part of a global piracy operation which private investigators say is worth $70 million a year with 150,000 customers."

JSmith

[pgdownload]

Not sure what there is to say. As with the other bust it all seems written to try big note a pretty minor event - Might as well have been the Australian arm of the local swap meet global network of fake asian DVDs.

Regards

Peter Gillespie